MIKE DAUM, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Jr. // F // Kimball, Neb.
Nabbed his seventh career Player of the Week award, tying for fourth-most in league history, and third of the season ... Averaged 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in a pair of victories during the week ... Scored 35 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in victory over Drake ... Tied his career-high with 14 field goals, shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 57.1 from behind the arc against the Bulldogs .. Totaled 12 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes in a road victory at Kansas City ... Shot 61.3 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three-point range during the week

RANK AND FILE

The Summit League's (Dec. 26) position in national ranking metrics ...

RPI (rpiratings.com) 12
KenPom.com 12
Sagarin Ratings 14

TRENDING

RPI SUCCESS
The Summit League was No. 12 in the Dec. 26 RPI rankings (RPIratings.com) as it seeks a seventh consecutive season with a top-20 finish. That position also marks the league's best since ending the 2015-16 campaign at No. 12.

MASTODON CHARGE
With a 20-point road win at Indiana on Dec. 18, Fort Wayne became the first Summit League team since 2011, and third overall, to defeat the same "power five" opponent in consecutive. The Mastodon victory margin was the largest against a Big Ten opponent since 1994.

B1G STAGE, B1G WINS
The Summit League has defeated Big Ten opponents in three consecutive seasons, dating back to the 2015-16 campaign. With South Dakota State's Nov. 21 victory over Iowa and Fort Wayne's Dec. 18 rout at Indiana, The Summit League notched multiple B1G victories for the second straight year.

TWO FROM THE FIVE
One week after its Big Ten victory, South Dakota State claimed a 99-97 overtime win at Mississippi Nov. 28. The Jackrabbits became the fifth Summit League team with victories over separate power five conferences in the same regular season and first since 2009. The seven-day duration between power five wins was the shortest for a Summit squad since 1998.

DOUBLE VISION
Oral Roberts achieved a "doubles" in its Dec. 16 win at FGCU. The Golden Eagles notched their second consecutive win against Mid-Majors Top-25 squads, besting the No. 12 Eagles after topping No. 12 Missouri State. Individually, ORU had a pair of players record double-doubles in the same game (Emmanuel Nzekwesi 's 24 pts/11 reb and Javan White's 25 pts/11 reb) for the first time since 2012-13.

HE STOLE WHAT?
Oral Roberts' R.J. Fuqua totaled a school-record nine steals, tied for the NCAA season-high to date and fourth-most in Summit League history, in the season-opening victory.

TAKING ON THE BLUEBLOODS
A number of traditional powers and prominent teams are on The Summit League schedule this season. Eight games against preseason top-16 teams, including No. 1 and four of the top five, occur during a five-week stretch from Nov. 13-Dec. 21. Below is a list of the big names and big games (with preseason AP ranking).

Nov. 13: North Dakota State at (10) USC
Nov. 17: Omaha at (16) Louisville
South Dakota State at (4) Kansas
Nov. 22: Fort Wayne at (5) Kentucky
Dec. 2: South Dakota at (1) Duke
Dec. 5: South Dakota State at (7) Wichita State
Dec. 18: Omaha at (4) Kansas
North Dakota State at (3) Arizona
Dec. 19: South Dakota at (21) UCLA
Dec. 21: Oral Roberts at (15) Minnesota

KARL MALONE AWARD WATCH LIST
South Dakota State's Mike Daum was named to the 2018 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Preseason Watch List, announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Named after Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Karl Malone, the annual honor in its fourth year recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's college basketball.

BEST MID-MAJOR TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE
The 2017 Summit League's Men's Basketball Tournament ranked seventh overall, best among traditional mid-major leagues, and increased its regular season average and ranking in the NCAA's 2017 attendance report. With an average attendance of 9,978 fans per session at its 2017 tournament, The Summit League's figure was best among the 22 traditional mid-major conferences. Overall, The Summit League moved up one spot from the previous year and trailed only the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East, and Pac-12.

SHARPSHOOTERS
The Summit League led the nation last season in each of the three KenPom.com statistical shooting measures: Effective FG% (54.2), 3P% (39.6) and FT% (74.2). The league also ranked first in efficiency (110.8), turnover pct. (16.3) and tempo (71.9) for six top analytic measures.

WELCOME ABOARD
The Summit League announced the addition of the University of North Dakota as its 10th member last season. The Fighting Hawks will begin league play across 17 league-sponsored sports in 2018-19.

RISE OF THE SUMMIT
As the college basketball world's best-kept secret the past few seasons, The Summit League enjoyed a historic 2015-16 campaign and continued its ascent last season. Recent achievements place it firmly among the top mid-majors ...

> RPI GAINS
• Currently holds highest position (No. 12) since end of the 2015-16 season
• Owns nation's best RPI gain (+8) from 2010-17
• Achieved 6 consecutive top 20 league RPI finishes ('12-17)
• Finished '15-16 at record-high No. 12 in RPI after peaking at No. 8 in Dec.
• Occupied 3rd-best mid-major RPI and had 8 of 9 teams in top 200 in '15-16

> RANKINGS
• Has 3 teams receiving votes in current Mid-Major Top 25, including No. 18 & 22
• Currently No. 14 in Sagarin after all-time best No. 15 in final '16-17 ratings
• Led the nation in six statistical metrics in '16-17, according to KenPom.com
• Record two different teams received votes in national polls in '15-16

> POSTSEASON
• Advanced teams in national postseason tournaments in 3 of past 4 seasons
• Won games across each of 4 tourneys (NCAA, NIT, CIT, CBI) over past 4 years
• Sent all-time high four teams to postseason 4 straight years ('12-15)

#MARCH2THESUMMIT

Everyone loves a success story and The Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls, called "March's best-kept secret" by USA Today in 2014, is one of the best in college basketball. Take a look at some of the numbers generated at what has become one of the nation's premier tournaments:

• Ranked 8th nationally with 9,165 fans per session in 2016 after placing 9th previous year
• Set 11 attendance marks in 2015 and broke 10 of those again in 2016
• Drew league record 11,235 fans at 2017 men's semifinal session
• Set league championship game attendance record with 10,188 in 2016
• Eclipsed previous all-time attendance record by 30% at new arena in 2015
• 4th highest mid-major tournament attendance average in '14
• 4th best net gain in tournament attendance average over past 5 years ('11-15)
• Played league-record 9th consecutive tourney in Sioux Falls in '17
• Exercised contract option to remain in Sioux Falls through 2022
• Average combined M/W total attendance in Sioux Falls era is 42,384 (5,298 per session)
• Top 3, and 4 of top 6, men's tournament figures have come in Sioux Falls
• Record run of 14 straight years in Sioux Falls ('09-22) tops previous high of 5

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The Summit League features the NCAA's most unique collection of one-of-a-kind nicknames among its member institutions. Within U.S. college athletics, three names are exclusively held by Summit League schools: Mastodons (Fort Wayne), Jackrabbits (South Dakota State) and Leathernecks (Western Illinois). In addition, the name Coyotes (South Dakota) is unique to NCAA Division I.